Month: June 2016

Belinda of Shades of Green Garden Design has been working with her client in rural Clackmannanshire since 2012. This large rural garden is being developed and re-planted in a phased manner to create a plant-filled, colourful country garden that peaks June-August, with areas of extended interest in the spring and autumn. The garden opened for the first time in May 2016 as part of Scotland Open Gardens: Muckhart Village.

Many Scottish gardens choose to open in late May, when the Rhododendron and Azalea are at their best, but this year flowering was delayed due to a cold snap mid spring. There were however some early flowering Azalea just opening up, and beautiful boldTulipa and Allium added extra colour to the garden on Open Gardens day.

New sandstone sett ramp alongside existing formal steps improves delivery access to the front door on the upper house level.

Informal sleeper/grass steps were placed to allow access but also keep a natural feel to this area of the garden and sit harmoniously with the natural contours of the land. The five new birch trees will be underplanted with bulbs for additional interest.

Dry stone terrace beds with perennial plants, small ornaments grasses and spring bulbs at the rear of the house can be seen from kitchen windows and from the hot tub on the nearby deck.

Large natural stone seating area in a sunny, sloping area of the garden will have a fine view over the new wet-land system which is due to be completed in 2016.

Stepping stone path has been added on the upper house level to guide visitors from the main parking area to the front door.

The five phases of garden re-design to date include:

Create long double herbaceous border on the south side of the garden, with upgraded planting in the upper parking area by the roadside entrance. A large natural stone seating area was added into a large grassy slope which provides a viewpoint for the new wet-land system in the adjoining field (under development) (2012)

Re-build/extend natural stone terraces round the house and in the parking area outside the large garage, along with installation of an access ramp to the upper house level Existing formal lawn and boundary planting area were re-contoured. New planting was provided in all areas. This phase also included bare-root planting of shrub banks around the existing BBQ house (2013)

Install natural stone terraces and planting for the sloping boundary at the rear of the house and continued planting improvements throughout the garden (2014)

Install informal sleeper steps to improve access into the sloping grass garden with new natural stone retaining wall, screening for oil tank and development of a woodland planting area under existing trees. A large raised bed in the upper parking area was cleared and re-planting (see planting plan) (2015)

Planting plan for large raised bed alongside driveway. Three Betula utilis var. jacquemontii are underplanted with broad swathes of ornamental grasses and robust perennials to provide colour, movement and changing form throughout the year. The border was previously planted with a static display of mature deciduous shrubs and conifers.

Some of the plants added to Mount Stuart House garden over the past 4 years: